Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Hecht & Bannier 2007 Minervois (France)

There was no real reason for pulling out this bottle tonight ... it wasn't that it was going to pair particularly well with what we were eating, the label didn't grab me by the throat and compel me to drink it, nor did I feel like a Syrah-Grenache blend ... it was just a bottle of wine that I pulled out of a "save it" case and its time was up.  Dinner was homemade beef pie and salad, so you can see dinner played no part in what I was serving with it.  This wine revealed itself in stages and by the end I can tell you that I am glad to have another bottle stocked in my cellar because this wine has yet to resolve itself, but I think it will for the better ... let me explain.  From the get go the wine smelled smoky with a whole lotta black fruit and spice - the palate followed this to the letter, though it had a roughness that made it a little tough to drink ... too much smoke.  45 minutes later I got the very distinct and perceivable smell of black raspberry and spice, a step above just general black fruit ... on the palate it was peppery with a touch of wood.  Another 45 minutes passed and now I could smell blackberry and nutmeg, but the palate had started to layer itself: with a cornucopia a flavours:  cocoa, nutmeg, cassis, spice with a peppery-wood smoke finish ... and an aftertaste that possessed a bit of a charring effect.  All said and done I wrote down on a slip of paper: "lots of fruit ... tannins ... wood ... and spice - but will it resolve itself?"  And I say yes, a few more years and I think the fruit will blossom and finally push that wood away - we'll check back in 2015 to make sure.


No comments: